2011 Ashden Awards international finalists – in pictures

Ten sustainable energy pioneers from Africa and Asia were selected as international finalists for the prestigious Ashden Awards for sustainable energy 2011. This year's overall Gold Award winner is Toyola Energy from Ghana

Ten international organisations have been nominated for the Ashden Awards.
Abellon CleanEnergy Gujarat, India – nominated for crop waste powering industry. Chipping crop waste in the field. Many of Gujarat’s industries rely on dirty, highly polluting lignite for power. Abellon is fuelling Gujarat’s industries with biomass pellets made from crop residues that replace these fuels and give 8,500 local farmers a market for their waste product. Abellon currently produces 65,000 tonnes of biomass pellets a year, avoiding around 110,000 tonnes of CO2

Sifting cumin to separate seeds from the waste, which will be used to make biomass pellets. Abellon aims to open two more pellet plants in Gujarat in the next five years, trebling its production and expanding operations into international markets

Aga Khan Planning and Building Service, Pakistan, nominated for providing families in remote mountain villages with access to affordable energy-efficient technologies that warm their homes, heat their water and reduce consumption of fuel wood. Stoves are made locally, providing income for small businesses

A joiner makes roof hatches in Gilgit, Pakistan. In the remote mountain villages of Pakistan winters are long and harsh, and extensive deforestation is a major problem. The programme tackles deforestation and climate change by saving 100,000 tonnes of wood a year and preventing emissions of around 160,000 tonnes a year of CO2. The team aims to extend this approach to other Himalayan countries, which face similar challenges, and to reach another 17,000 homes by 2014

AJDR Cooperative, Rwanda, nominated for helping street kids and unemployed young people earn an income by making fuel-efficient, charcoal-burning stoves from scrap metal, heat retaining insulated baskets and wood burning rocket stoves. Its stoves are on sale in the market

Husk Power provides training to increase the uptake of gasifier technology. Clean, safe power brings 21st-century living to rural villages. Bihar is one of the most poorly served states when it comes to electricity. Husk Power is connecting remote villages in Bihar to a clean, reliable electricity supply. Husk Power’s 65 plants gasify rice husks and other biomass waste to supply electricity to around 180,000 people and, by replacing kerosene, they cut greenhouse emissions by over 8,000 tonnes of CO2 a year. The company is growing rapidly, aiming for over 2,000 plants in operation by the end of 2014

Nuru East Africa Ltd Rwanda, nominated for pedal-powered lights. An innovative approach has found a new way to provide affordable lighting in rural areas using LED rechargeable lamps that sell for only $5. The lamps replace smoky kerosene ones in homes and are also used as bicycle lights. Nuru has also developed pedal-powered generators to recharge the lamps. Nearly 10,000 lamps have been sold, and 70 pedal-powered generators are now in use, mainly in Rwanda and Kenya. Nuru plans to set up hundreds of new entrepreneurs in the next three years

Gold Award winner Toyola Energy Ltd, Ghana. A worker makes a Toyola stove. The company has a credit scheme buy the stoves. Efficient stoves are not new, but Toyola has developed an innovative business model that has succeeded in selling 154,000 efficient and affordable charcoal stoves to low-income families, three-quarters of whom buy the stoves on credit and use savings on charcoal to pay cash back. The stoves save about 26,000 tonnes of charcoal a year, and around 150,000 tonnes a year of CO2. Toyola plans to open more centres in Benin, Sierra Leone and Nigeria in the next two years, stepping up sales to a further 140,000 stoves by 2013

ToughStuff International UK and Africa for Affordable, flexible, durable solar systems. ToughStuff's cheap, adaptable solar kits are sold by small and large retailers. Making solar energy affordable is key if the technology is to reach the millions who can benefit from it. ToughStuff is manufacturing and marketing a range of low-cost and robust solar products to off-grid communities across Africa, bringing the benefits of light, mobile phone charging and radio to poor households. So far 140,000 PV modules have been sold, benefiting around 740,000 people. The company also works with humanitarian relief agencies to bring solar lighting to people living in disaster zones in Haiti and Pakistan. ToughStuff aims to reach 33 million people by 2015 through its regional offices in Nairobi, Lagos and Johannesburg

ToughStuff's solar kits are sold by rural entrepreneurs, enabling them to earn an income while bringing power to those who need it most
Making solar affordable is key if the technology is to reach the millions who would benefit from it. ToughStuff is manufacturing and marketing a range of low-cost and robust solar products to off-grid communities across Africa, bringing the benefits of light, mobile phone charging and radio to poor households. So far 140,000 PV modules have been sold, benefitting around 740,000 people. The company also works with humanitarian relief agencies to bring solar lighting to people living in disaster zones in Haiti and Pakistan. ToughStuff aims to reach 33 million people by 2015 through its regional offices in Nairobi, Lagos and Johannesburg

Ugastove Ltd for stoves priced for the poorest. Price is key if the poorest are to access efficient stoves. Ugastove is making fuel-efficient charcoal and wood stoves for homes, schools and businesses, which sell for as little as $7. They are making the stoves accessible to the poor through a scheme that allows customers to pay back the price of the stove through the cash they save on charcoal. About 80,000 stoves have been sold since 2006 and their total greenhouse gas savings are now over 100,000 tonnes a year of CO2. The enterprise is expanding to reach customers in more remote areas of Uganda and beyond